REDLANDS - Emily Stevens was just 9 years old when she stepped onto the grounds of the El Camino Ranch.

Even though she had very little experience with horses and had never been to this horse ranch, she knew she had found the place for her.

Stevens, now 11, was among the El Camino Ranch Riding Academy students attending Saturday's Fall Festival - an open house-type of event for the 29-year-old horse ranch.

"It was right for me," said Stevens of Colton. "Everyone was so nice and the horses were so sweet. I knew this was it for me."

The Fall Festival was open to the public for the first time in six years, the hope being that it would serve as a re-introduction to the surrounding community.

"We hope it would be good for people who have never been to a ranch, or close to horses, that this would be good," Vandi Reeves, who helps run the ranch with her father and grandmother. "We've been here a long time but we want this to introduce ourselves to the community again."

The day featured a tour of the ranch, riding lessons, riding demonstrations by academy students, a horse auction and various activities for children. The ranch includes stables and a recently added dog kennel.

The ranch specializes in the boarding of Arabian horses.

"Our first horse was an Appaloosa," Reeves said. "That's funny. Now what we have is all Arabian."

The ranch can hold between 15 and 60 horses. The most prized possession is an Arabian with a $65,000 price tag. Most of the horses at the ranch are valued between $3,000 to $8,000.

"It's been a long time since we've done this," Reeves said. "But we needed this. It also is a way to say thank you to the people who work here, for a job well done."

Reeves has plans for the El Camino Ranch, including the start up of a Redlands based 4H Club. Reeves said the ranch will soon renovate a portion of the facility and turning it into a third arena. And the ranch is in the early stages of providing college prep classes for equine careers.

The riding academy will remain a staple of the ranch.

"Being around horses can be therapeutic, people come here to deal with various issues," Reeves said. "Some people just come here to relax. Family's come here for picnics. It's open to everyone."